Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo comes out as ‘proudly gay’
Beartooth singer Caleb Shomo, 33, has come out as gay in a detailed Instagram statement, while his wife Fleur Shomo has described the end of their nearly 14‑year marriage as “disorientating and hurtful” as the band prepares new album Pure Ecstasy and tour plans.
Heavy metal frontman Caleb Shomo has come out as gay in a candid Instagram statement.
Saying he is “a proudly gay man” after what he described as years of internal struggle, the Beartooth singer – whose metalcore band recently announced their sixth studio album, Pure Ecstasy, and a new UK, European and US tour to follow 2023’s The Surface – addressed his 213,000 Instagram followers on Saturday (23.05.26) after what he called “a lot of speculation” about his personal life.
His wife of nearly 14 years, actress Fleur Shomo, shared her own post supporting Caleb while describing their split as “disorientating and hurtful”.
Caleb said he felt compelled to address “something I’ve been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now”.
He added: “I feel compelled to set the record straight before it affects those I love any further. I am a proudly gay man.”
Caleb said it had been “difficult” for him “to navigate the feelings surrounding the subject and figure out what to do with this fact”.
The singer, who founded Beartooth in 2012 and has fronted the band through albums including Disgusting, Aggressive, Disease, Below and The Surface, added in his Instagram post he had “always” put “the deepest part of my soul” into his art and music.
He reflected on four “very self-deprecating (Beartooth) albums” he made before coming out, and said those records explored his “religious upbringing, depression, self hatred, self loathing, and hopelessness”.
Caleb also said he “will express (himself) whole heartedly and fully” in music on the forthcoming album, alongside the band’s recently released tracks tied to Pure Ecstasy.
He added: “I am grateful for all these albums, yet feel embarrassed at times that I wouldn’t allow myself to really dig up the roots for so long.
“I spent a decade burying feelings with alcohol, and honestly when I decided to put it down and focus on exploring why I felt this way for so long, it’s been a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self-love.”
He said he had been “trying to finally be proud of who I am and I think this is a massive part of that journey”.
Addressing those who have supported him, Caleb said: “To those who have shown me love, empowerment through living life freely and openly in my presence, supporting the queer community, or simply telling me you love me whoever I am, I am forever in your debt and I hope you know what you mean to me.”
He also urged others to confront difficult truths. Caleb said people should “be honest” and “do the hard work instead of burying it down as deep as you physically can thinking it will change like I did.
Caleb added: “Holding these things in only hurt you and those around you.
“Love you all, and hopefully this is a step in the right direction to loving myself one day.”
Shortly after Caleb’s post, Fleur said in a statement on her own social media accounts: “Not really sure how to start this cause does anything even need to be said? But I guess I’ll just dive right in.”
She said “the past few months have been a very disorientating and hurtful time to navigate” for both her and Caleb.
Fleur added: “I will always want to love, protect and support Caleb. I have cared more about his well being over the years than anything else in the world.”
She wrote about watching Caleb’s “confusion and pain he went through” and “wanting to help but not knowing how”.
Fleur said she would “ask (herself) constantly if (she was) a bad person for wondering wtf this means for your world and the anger you also feel”.
She added: “I am the only person that is having to deal with the duality of this situation. To support him whilst losing everything has been incredibly hard to figure out.”
Fleur said: “You can love and support your person through the hardest time in their life, whilst also be completely demolished and lose yourself at the same time.”
She added she would not “question (her and Caleb’s) history”, writing: “Our nearly 14yrs of marriage was wonderful and full of so much fun, adventure and love. Nobody will know anything about our marriage like we do. And no one can ever truly know what depths of love exist between two people unless they are those people.”
